


The Contemplation of a Bandicoot

by Zeriphi



Category: Crash Bandicoot (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate dimension Tawna Focused, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crash Bandicoot (mentioned), Crash Bandicoot 4 spoilers, F NTropy (mentioned), Mentions of canon deaths, Trauma, ending spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeriphi/pseuds/Zeriphi
Summary: Alternate dimension Tawna thinks about whether or not she should stay with the Bandicoots.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	The Contemplation of a Bandicoot

It was over.

The NTropy’s were gone and NCortex was put back in his place (at the very end of the universe)

Tawna really didn’t have any reason to stick around here anymore. At anything, she’d never had more reasons to go back to her own dimension. After all, her NTropy was lost to the space between dimensions. Her home dimension had never been safer. And yet….

Something had struck her when she had first seen Crash and Coco. A glimmer of hope, one quickly stamped out by the cruel heel of reality. Her Crash and Coco were dead, they had been for a long time. These two were merely alternate dimension versions of the friends she once had. Just as she was to them- someone else’s.

But they had said they lost contact with their own Tawna (no doubt the result of some poor dating choices, if their Tawna was anything like Tawna herself had been back in the day) and they were happy to see her… So maybe she could stay? If not only for a bit?

No. That wasn’t a good idea.

Tawna was a loner. It was better that way. Those she loved had a bad habit of meeting with misfortune. The less time she spent with others, the better. Even if she did stay, it would only make it harder to leave back to her own dimension, where once again, she would be alone with nothing but the memories of the friends she failed to save.

Maybe that was what she deserved. She couldn’t save them, after all, and if she couldn’t protect them, then why should she get to enjoy their presence in her life? She wasn’t strong enough to defeat NTropy, so her punishment was to watch her friends die as a result of her weakness. Just as she deserved.

Or at least this was one of the many thoughts that haunted her while she tried to catch some sleep at night. Evidently she hadn’t slept well in a while.

Tawna gathered her few possessions, and went to ask the quantum masks to send her home- but before she could even make more than a couple of steps, someone grabbed her arm. She turned to look. It was Coco.

“Hey, Tawna!” She said a smile on her face. “Where are you going?” Tawna felt a pang of guilt in her stomach.

“I… Um…” She started.

“Are you going home?” Coco interrupted. Tawna swallowed nervously.

“… Yeah.” Coco seemed disappointed.

“Aw. That’s too bad.” She said. Tawna frowned. She had really hoped she could find a way to make an exit as subtly as possible. “I bet you miss your home dimension though.”

_Not for a second._ Tawna thought to herself. She didn’t exactly have anything there to miss, after all.

“Uh, yeah. You know, I need to get back and see how things are doing, now that NTropy’s gone.” Tawna lied.

“That makes sense,” Coco replied. “You wanna come to say goodbye to everyone?” Tawna glanced to the side.

“Sorry, I’m not very good at goodbyes.” Coco frowned.

“But we don’t know if we’ll even see you again!”

“Yeah… That’s kind of why I was hoping to leave before anyone noticed…” Tawna admitted. “… It’s easier for everyone that way.” Coco looked skeptical. Tawna sighed. “I’m sorry kid. It’s just not easy for me to leave behind people that I’ve lost before. I just know if I talked to you all again, I’d never want to leave.” Coco paused. Tawna assumed she was mad. She wouldn’t blame her. This was just another way Tawna was weak. She wasn’t strong enough to save her own Crash and Coco, and she wasn’t brave enough to tell these ones that she was leaving. This was just another reason she had to leave. They deserved so much better than her, and she deserved the solitude life had handed her.

She wanted to run. The silence was too much for her. She already thought she knew what Coco was going to say, and Tawna would deserve every word of it. But she didn’t want to hear it she just wanted to leave before she could disappoint or hurt anyone else. Why did she do this? Why did she keep getting close to people just to leave them? She didn’t deserve them, she needed to leave, to go be alone, where she could never hurt anyone ever agai-

“Then why don’t you just stay?”

That wasn’t the response Tawna had been anticipating.

“… Huh?”

  
“Well it doesn’t really sound like you want to leave, so I think you should stay!” Coco said. “I mean, we’d love to hang out with you for a bit! Crash doesn’t talk much- but if he did he’d say the same thing!”

“I just-“ Tawna started.

“Come on! It won’t hurt anyone for you to stick around! Especially not if you actually want to!” At this point Tawna was scrambling for excuses- this development had truly caught her off guard.

“But- my dimension- I have to-“ She stammered.

“Your NTropy was your only real problem there- right?” Coco asked.

“Well yes but-“

“She’s gone now! Your dimension will be fine without you for a bit!”

“But what if she comes back-“

“Then we can come with you to beat her up again!” Coco emphasized her seriousness by punching the air. “We beat her once, and along with our NTropy too! We can do it again if we have to!”

“But- I-“ Tawna was at a loss. Coco looked at her sympathetically.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore, Tawna.” She said. Tawna held back tears. She was at a loss.

“… Okay.” She said. “I’ll stay- for a bit.” Coco smiled and hugged her. Tawna tensed briefly, then relaxed, and hugged the younger Bandicoot back.

“Works for me,” Coco said, pulling back. Tawna smiled. “Now let’s go see everyone else!” Coco grabbed Tawna’s hand and pulled her along.

“Hey, but what happens if your old Tawna comes back?” Tawna asked, half-jokingly. Coco scoffed.

“Oh come on. You know what’s better than one Tawna? TWO.”

Tawna laughed.

Maybe it would be okay if she stayed here for a bit.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written Crash Bandicoot fanfiction since I was 14 lol.   
> Anyways, I don't write a lot of oneshots, so I hope you guys liked this. I might write more Crash Bandicoot stuff in the future. BIG fan of this new game.   
> Anyways, Have a good morning/day/night or whenever you're reading this.


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